From Africa to Europe: Across the Desert and the Sea
A boat with migrants
What is the journey like for African migrants trying to make their way into Europe? What choices do migrants face before and during the journey? What choices do governments and government officials have in the face of the ongoing crisis? And, what can human rights workers do as we experience the largest displacement of people since the end of the second world war? The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX’s explores these questions in a powerful episode of the podcast Reveal. The producers describe the episode this way:
African migrants fleeing persecution or seeking opportunity often end up in Libya, where they are tortured and trafficked. Many try to escape to Europe, only to be intercepted at sea and returned to Libya. On this episode of Reveal, we trace their journey and explore how Europe’s immigration policy is helping Libyan warlords and putting migrants at risk.
The episode provides a close-up view of the stories of African migrants and therefore includes descriptions of torture. We recommend using this episode with high school students. Please preview the episode before using it with youth.
Related resources:
The New Europeans photo essay from National Geographic introduces the stories of recent migrants to Europe.
This short film introduces a contrasting story of Europeans welcoming migrants into the homes and lives.
